Perforating Monopolized Markets Elucidate on your entrepreneurial journey. What attracted you to start a venture in the grooming segment?

My first job as a product engineer required me to conduct consumer product evaluations to help retailers and manufacturers analyze the performance of their products. Having understood consumer grievances inside out, I decided to bring quality razors to the Indian market and started LetsShave in 2015. The essence of the brand is best described using three words – quality, comfort and flexibility. LetsShave promotes the idea of affordable quality in grooming products and succeeds in catering to a large demographic of millennials and Gen-X customers.

What retail channels do you use to sell your products?

Business to Consumer is our main focus but we cater to Business to Business markets as well. We don't sell offline as of yet. We also have a presence on social media platforms and sell through mediums like Facebook, Instagram and direct emailing.

What differentiates your razors and other grooming products from others in the market?

We have a couple of clear distinctions that help us stand out among the plethora of options available to consumers. Our eco-friendly packaging brings down production costs while also contributing to environmental conservation. We have a greater range of product variants that address all demographics in the market. Apart from launching a pioneer six-blade razor, LetsShave also sells a one-razor handle that fits all interchangeable blades for men and women both.

How do you market yourself differently to boost sales?

Digital marketing and word-of-mouth is helping us achieve market penetration. We want the Indian market to take grooming ranges more seriously and wish to convey the message that grooming is not as expensive and time-consuming as people mistake it to be. It is essential and can also be affordable. We are doing this through a range of subscription-based shaving kits and a range of products at reasonable prices.

What challenges have you faced in setting up LetsShave?

The gaps that LetsShave strived to fill in the market were the biggest challenges. That's because the men's shaving and grooming market in India was monopolized and hence, consumers had little idea what to expect or demand. Securing ample marketing budgets has been the most pressing challenge. I have now learnt to optimize various components of marketing campaign and have, over time, demonstrated positive marketing ROI. Managing the website was also a task when we entered the market. It is still high on my priority list as it is an asset that keeps working round the clock to draw in visitors and convert them into customers.

What does the road to the future look like in terms of expanding your business?

We plan to use the newly raised funds by Dorco to expand our product portfolio to cater to men's and women's grooming needs more efficiently. LetsShave wants to become a one-stop solution for grooming while keeping shaving as its core category. We began with about four products, are now selling 22 products and plan to expand to 40 products in the near future.

(This article appears in the March 2019 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here. You can buy our tablet version from Magzter.com. To visit our Archives, click here.)